Integrated Gourmet Item Data Collection, Recommender and Vending System and Method

ABSTRACT

Items—including gourmet products—are evaluated and rated by participants in a controlled event, which can be coordinated by software locally or at a dedicated website. Event data, including item scores and participant scores can be shared with vendors, merchants and other commercial entities associated with the products. Promotional incentives from such entities for the products (and related products) can then be directly targeted and provided to participants and other members of the public. The participant&#39;s activities can also be collected and disseminated to affiliates/friends of the participants through social networking sites, personalized web pages, etc.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application claims the benefit under 35 U.S.C. 119(e) of thepriority date of the following: Provisional Application Ser. Nos.61/013,943 filed Dec. 14, 2007; 61/020,484 filed Jan. 11, 2008; and61043363 filed Apr. 8, 2008 all of which are hereby incorporated byreference.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to gourmet food/drink entertainment eventsand e-commerce and recommendation support systems used and/or associatedtherewith.

BACKGROUND

Wine tastings are popular events that are enjoyed both on a commercialand non-commercial basis. At the one extreme, various organizations areknown to put on large scale events to rate vintages offered by differentwine labels, and sometimes these events are open to the public for theirenjoyment as well. These festivals are extremely popular and attractlarge crowds interested in wines. Individual wineries also offertastings of their products on a small scale for the benefit of visitors.These functions allow wineries to collect data directly from consumerson the likeability of different types of wine.

Finally, at the public level, so-called private “wine tasting parties”represent yet another form of entertainment and enjoyment that ispopular at this time. At such functions, individuals are invited totaste, discuss and rate wines as part of the social activities. Suchparties are becoming more commonplace, but the wineries and othervendors associated with such products have not been able to tap into theinformation exchanged at such events.

There are some Internet/e-commerce entities also dedicated to wine andrelated products. For example a website identified as www.winelog.net isdedicated to wine lovers and includes a tool for members to enter theirwine ratings and receive recommendations. Winelog describes itself as an“online community of wine drinkers.” The limitation of this site is thatit caters only to persons who have taken the time to find the site andhave registered specifically as members. This tends to restrict thecommunity to hard core oenophiles. Moreover it does not appear tocoordinate and tie together the collected ratings data for wine growers,consumers and merchants of such products. Consequently the userpopulation and popularity of such system does not appear to besignificant.

Thus techniques for collecting data for food/drink preferences have beenrather limited. It would be preferable if there were some manner ofincreasing the participation rate in the general public to enhanceknowledge of consumer preferences.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

An object of the present invention, therefore, is to overcome and/orreduce the aforementioned limitations of the prior art.

A first aspect of the invention concerns a method of conducting asampling event for items comprising: (a) providing one or moreelectronic data collection devices; (b) collecting at least a set ofratings for the set of items from a group of participants using a firstroutine executing on the one or more electronic data collection devicesduring the item sampling event; (c) calculating item sampling event dataincluding at least item scores and participant scores using a secondcomputing routine; (d) providing at least some of the item samplingevent data through a network to one or more electronic computing systemsassociated with third parties involved in the making, distributingand/or selling of the items; and (e) receiving promotional couponsand/or other electronic feedback from such third parties at the one ormore electronic data collection devices or other electronic messageaccounts associated with the group of participants. The promotionalcoupons and/or other electronic feedback are preferably coupled anddynamically adjustable based on a geographical location of the one ormore data collection devices and/or a residence address of the group ofparticipants.

In preferred embodiments the one or more electronic data collectiondevices include a single phone based computing device which is adaptedto present a data capture interface which varies for multiple users.Additional steps such as (b)′: receiving prediction data from theparticipants concerning the expected ratings to be provided by otherparticipants for one or more of the items; and/or receiving predictiondata from the participants concerning the actual ratings provided byexperts for one or more of the items can also be implemented.

The method further preferably includes a step: determining one or moreparticipant winners based on an overall group participant ratingprovided to items submitted by such participants. Additional steps ofcomputing a rating and participant correlation score can be done todetermine at least one or more of the following:

-   -   a. which pair of participants provided the closest ratings        results;    -   b. which pair of participants provided the most disparate        ratings results;    -   c. which identified couple in the group provided the closest        ratings data;    -   d. which identified couple in the group provided the most        disparate ratings data;    -   e. a deviation from aggregate group scores on a participant by        participant basis;    -   f. one or more participants who subjectively gave the lowest        rating to the item rated highest by the group;    -   g. one or more participants who gave the highest rating to the        item rated lowest by the group;    -   h. one or more participants who gave the lowest rating to the        item rated lowest by the group;    -   i. one or more participants who gave the highest rating to the        items rated highest by the group;    -   j. a score of each item broken down by sex or age groups.

In some embodiments the following additional steps can also beoptionally included:

presenting advertising to the participants electronically through theone more electronic data collection devices during the sampling event,which advertising is related to the items and/or items correlated to theitems can be done:

compiling ratings and other event data for one or more the participantsand presenting the same to websites for which the participants havesocial networking memberships;

automatically identifying a nearest location for each of theparticipants on the one or more data collection devices for purchasingone or more of the items;

deriving the sampling data in part from kit data associated with apredetermined item sampling kit containing the set of items andassociated identification information—the set of items can be packagedin a manner to obscure their identity and/or origin to the group ofparticipants;

configuring the electronic data collection devices to communicatedirectly to a restaurant or bar computing system through a network;

configuring the electronic data collection devices to automaticallycapture identification information from the set of items—wherein theidentification information includes one of: a barcode, an image, analphanumeric label, and/or a radio frequency (RF) identification;

capturing the set of ratings with a speech recognition system;

predicting one or more items of interest to at least some of theparticipants based on a collaborative filtering and/or a corroborativefiltering analysis;

monitoring redemptions of the participants of the promotional coupons.

determining which one or more of the participants provide(s) ratingsbest correlating to prior scores given by other participants in othersampling events;

presenting electronic dynamically to the participants during the event;

registering the item sampling event with a centralized computing systemaccessible at one more item vending establishments, and wherein thecentralized computing system monitors and tracks purchases made byparticipants for the event to prevent duplication and providerecommendations to such participants;

coupling the one or more electronic data collection devices during theitem sampling event to provide common updates to each such device;wherein one of the one or more electronic data collection devices isconfigured as a master for conducting the item sampling event andcoordinating data collection from the other electronic data collectiondevices;

allowing the participants to be located at disparate geographiclocations;

providing recommendations for different types of items;

presenting an output of results of the item sampling event to theparticipants in text or graphical form;

providing ongoing alerts of promotional events for the items areprovided to participants—wherein the ongoing alerts are optionallytriggered in part by a correlation of a physical location of aparticipant to a physical location of a merchant or other entityassociated with the promotional event.

Another aspect of the invention concerns a method of marketing andpromoting items comprising the steps: a) providing an item marketingcomputing system which is coupled through a network connection to afirst item manufacturer computing system, a second item distributorcomputing system, and a third item data collection computing system; theitem marketing computing system including one or more software routinesto perform the following operations: 1) coordinating communication offirst item event data to the third item data collection computing systemfrom a group of participants sampling a first item; 2) calculatingscores for the first item and/or for the group of participants; 3)communicating the scores and/or the first item event data to at leastthe first manufacture computing system; 4) process feedback data basedon the scores and/or the first item event data from the firstmanufacture computing system and/or the second item distributorcomputing system which is specific to at least one or more the group ofparticipants; 5) communicating promotional information to the third itemdata collection computing system relevant to the first item, and/oritems determined to be related to the first item to the at least one ormore of the group of participants.

The promotional information is presented dynamically from a manufacturerand/or distributor of the first item to a participant during the itemsampling event and which promotional information is responsive andrelated to scores provided by the participant and/or other participantsin the sampling event. The item sampling event is preferably associatedwith tasting a food or beverage, and the items are preferably wine.

Yet another aspect of the invention concerns an item data samplingcollection computing device comprising: an electronic interface forcapturing item sampling data from a participant for a set of items in anitem sampling event; an item sampling processing routine that is adaptedto: communicate at least some of the item sampling data with a remotecomputing system; present feedback data from the remote computingsystem, including advertising and/or promotional coupons for items,which feedback data is derived at least in part from a recommendersystem and is customized for one or more participants in the itemsampling event; calculate scores and awards for the one or moreparticipants based on evaluating and correlating their respectiveratings provided on the set of items sampled during the item samplingevent.

In some embodiments the device is part of a fixed electronic kiosksituated in a commercial establishment that serves food and/orbeverages.

In a preferred embodiment the device is further adapted as a mastercontroller of the item sampling event, such that the device communicatesto other slave data collection devices operated by other participantsand collects the item sampling data from such slave data collectiondevices. The device communicates directly to at least some of the slavedata collection devices by way of a wireless connection. It can alsocommunicate to the slave data collection devices through an intermediaryserver computing system.

Still in a preferred embodiment the device is further adapted with asensor and associated routine to automatically determine identificationand/or origin data for the set of items. The sensor is at least one ofan image scanner, an RF sensor, and/or a barcode reader.

In some applications the electronic interface is adapted to be sharedthe participants during the sampling event and is customized for eachparticipant during an item data capture session for each suchparticipant. This aspect of the invention allows common feedback data tobe broadcast to each of the slave collection devices at substantiallythe same time to permit simultaneous consideration by the participantsof such.

In still other applications the promotional electronic coupons areconfigured to only be active within a first distance of one or morepredetermined preferred establishments.

In another aspect of the invention, a data collection system forcollecting data from participants in an item sampling event comprises: aportable master controller computing device; one or more portable slavecomputing devices; wherein each of the master controller computingdevice and the one or more slave computing devices having an electronicinterface for capturing item sampling data from a participant for a setof items in an item sampling event; further wherein the portable mastercontroller computing device is coupled to and controls data collectionand data presentation for the item sampling event from the portableslave computing devices; the portable master controller computing devicebeing further adapted with one or more software routines to: calculatescores and awards for the participants based on evaluating andcorrelating their respective ratings provided on a set of items sampledduring the item sampling event; and present feedback data from a remotecomputing system, including advertising and/or promotional coupons foritems, which feedback data is derived at least in part from arecommender system and is customized for one or more participants in theitem sampling event. The portable slave computing devices preferablyprovide profile information automatically for a participant to theportable master computing device.

Another aspect of the invention concerns an integrated sampling eventkit for sampling a set of consumable items comprising: an integratedpackage including at least the following: 1) the set of consumableitems; wherein the set of consumable items are packaged in a manner soas to obscure their origin and/or identity from at least some of a groupof participants in a sampling event; 2) a storage media including itemdata stored thereon in electronic form, including identification datafor each item in the set of items. The storage media includes dataand/or computing instructions adapted to be read by a portable computingdevice to assist with the sampling event data collection/analysis.

The storage media also preferably includes software routines and/orinstructions for coordinating the sampling event, including compilingratings for the set of consumable items, and determining awards for thegroup of participants in accordance with a sampling game procedure.Furthermore the storage media also preferably includes software routinesand/or instructions for coordinating data exchanges between the portablecomputing device and a remote computing system which presentsrecommendation and/or advertising data to the portable computing devicewhich is correlated with the set of consumable items in the integratedpackage.

A further aspect of the invention concerns a social networking websitecomprising: one or more social networking web pages and/or data feedsassociated with a member of the social networking site; wherein themember can identify a social circle specified by links and/orassociations to other member of the social networking site; acompilation routine executing at the social networking site and adaptedto receive and process sampling event data for the member; wherein thesampling event data includes at least member event information relatingto one of: 1) a set of items; 2) ratings associated therewith providedby the member; 3) scores and/or awards achieved by the member; 4)advertising materials presented to the member; the compilation routinebeing further adapted to automatically and selectively modify one of atleast the one or more web pages and/or data feeds associated with themember and/or other members of the member's social circle based on themember event information.

In preferred embodiments the member can opt in or opt out of thecompiling routine, the data feed is an RSS feed, and the sampling eventdata is compiled in real-time by the social networking site. Arecommender routine is also preferably employed to correlate the memberto other members, and provide recommendations to the member relating toother members and/or other items predicted to be of interest to themember.

Another aspect of the invention concerns a recommender computing systemadapted to provide recommendations on a group of consumable itemscomprising: a first routine of the recommender computing system beingadapted to collect at least a set of ratings for a set of consumableitems from a group of participants using one or more electronic datacollection devices during an item sampling event; a second routine ofthe recommender computing system being adapted to calculate correlationsbased on the set of ratings between at least one of 1) the group ofparticipants and other persons rating the set of consumable items orrelated items; and/or 2) the set of items including at least item scoresand participant scores; and c) a third routine of the recommendercomputing system being adapted to present recommendations on consumableitems to at least some of the group of participants based on thecorrelations.

In preferred embodiments a fourth routine is used for interfacing andcommunicating the correlations and/or the recommendations to a socialnetworking site and/or a computing system managed by a vendor of atleast some of the set of consumable items. The recommendationspreferably are further correlated to a group of establishments locatedwithin a first configurable distance from one or more of the group ofparticipants. They can also be dynamically generated for the group ofparticipants based on their physical location at a particular time. Thefinal recommendation can further include an accompanying electroniccoupon from a vendor or distributor of a consumable item.

Still another aspect of the invention concerns a method of conducting acontest for sampling items using a computing system comprising:providing a set of one or items to be rated during an item samplingevent in which the items are sampled by a group of participants;automatically collecting at set of reference ratings for the set ofitems from a group of one or more reference raters using the computingsystem; automatically collecting at least a set of participant ratingsfor the set of items from the group of sampling participants during theitem sampling event using the computing system; calculating participantscores for the item sampling event using the computing system. A winnerof the contest is identified by the participant scores that are based ondetermining a correlation between each sampling participant ratingprovided for an item, and a corresponding reference rating provided bythe one or more reference raters.

In preferred embodiments a participant having an participant rating foran item coming closest to a reference rating for an item is identifiedas a winner of the contest. Also, the sampling event is preferablycontrolled such that the participants are provided the set of items inthe same sequence, and with a common set of accompanying consumableitems to provide a common experience.

The reference ratings are preferably determined from ratings provided byother consumers of the set of items and/or individuals designated asexperts. The method can also include one or more optional steps:providing promotional incentives and/or coupons to a subset of the groupof participants based on their participant scores; and/or publishing theparticipant scores to web pages and/or other data feeds associated withthe participants.

The event can also be managed through a dedicated event managementwebsite. Thus another aspect of the invention is directed to a websiteincluding a computing system adapted to conduct a sampling event for aset of items comprising: a first routine executing on the computingsystem for collecting at least a set of ratings for the set of itemsfrom a group of participants using the one or more electronic datacollection devices during the item sampling event; a second routineexecuting on the computing system for calculating item sampling eventdata including at least item scores and participant scores; a thirdroutine executing on the computing system for providing at least some ofthe item sampling event data through a network to one or more electronicsystems associated with third parties involved in the making,distributing and/or selling of the items; a fourth routine forprocessing and sending promotional coupons and/or other electronicfeedback from such third parties to the one or more electronic datacollection devices or electronic accounts for the group of participants.The promotional coupons and/or other electronic feedback are coupled anddynamically adjustable based on a geographical location of the one ormore data collection devices and/or a residence address of the group ofparticipants.

Another aspect of the invention concerns a prediction contest forsampling items using a computing system comprising: providing a set ofone or items to be rated during an item sampling event in which theitems are sampled by a group of participants; automatically generating aset of predicted ratings for said set of items by said group ofparticipants using said computing system prior to said sampling event;automatically collecting at least a set of participant ratings for saidset of items from said group of sampling participants during said itemsampling event using said computing system; calculating a correlationbetween said set of participant ratings and said set of predictedratings for said item sampling event using said computing system;providing a report to said group of participants which contains feedbackrelating to said correlation. Steps (a) through (e) can be repeated fora different group of participants, so that a report can be publishedidentifying a ranking based on a respective correlation for differentgroups of participants.

A further aspect of the system concerns one or more systems whichinclude a number of software routines for causing one or more computingdevices to effectuate the above different aspects of the invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is an illustration of the main components of a preferredintegrated gourmet item data collection/recommender/vending system ofthe present invention;

FIG. 2 is a flow diagram depicting the steps used in a preferredembodiment of the invention for collecting and analyzing ratings foritems;

FIG. 3 illustrates the main components and operations used in apreferred back end process of the invention for compiling and updatingratings, users, etc. at respective e-commerce sites and other vendorfacilities;

FIGS. 4A to 4E illustrate aspects of an exemplary embodiment of awebsite of the present invention configured to support gourmet itemsampling events.

FIG. 5 illustrates a preferred process for conducting a competitiveratings game 500 as part of a gourmet item sampling event.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

FIG. 1 is an illustration of the main components of a preferredembodiment of an integrated gourmet item datacollection/recommender/vending system 100 of the present invention. Agroup of items 110 preferably include, for example, a set of distinctwines to be rated by a sampling group 120. While the items describedherein are preferably gourmet consumable items, such as wine, cheese,etc, it will be understood that the invention has beneficialapplicability to other domains and products where it is desirable tocollect data from the public. Other types of items also lend themselvesto group/social gatherings, discourse and ratings, such as bookreadings, movie previews/reviews, music pieces, sport teams,automobiles, political campaigns/candidates, and the like. Moreoverwhile certain preferred vendors, e-commerce entities, etc. areidentified, it will be apparent that other entities may be involved inthe data collection, analysis and utilization processes herein.

In some embodiments, as explained below, the item set 110 may be in theform of a pre-packaged high end event “kit” 115 which includes allnecessary items for conducting a consumer entertainment event fortasting and rating gourmet items, such as a collection of wines of aparticular variety (i.e., Zinfandel, Cabernet, Merlot, etc.). Media 112may be included with software and other data to allow an event host tomanage and direct the event from a local computing platform, such as apersonal computer. In some cases a basic data collecting tool 130(discussed below) for executing the routines on media 112 can also beincluded since the cost of electronic components is constantlydecreasing. The output of the data collecting tool could be collected bydownloading it to another computing platform.

The items 110 may be in their original packaging/labels, or they may bere-packaged into generic containers (not shown) with no identifyinginformation to permit blind sampling. In the case of original packagedmaterials the kit can also include preprinted wrappings/adhesive labels(not shown) for masking an existing label on an item and so as tofacilitate a blind tasting if desired. In the case of generic containersthey can be adapted to include convenient markings thereon to identifysuitable pouring amounts for a sampling. For example a 750 ml bottle mayhave 15 markings corresponding to 50 ml each.

This “complete event in a box” approach may also be attractive forparties, corporate retreats, etc. at locations where it is desirable tohave all components of an entertainment event self-contained in a singlepackage. It will be understood of course that the composition of theitem kit will be a function of the specific items to be reviewed and isexpected to vary between applications. For example in the case of apolitical discourse gathering the items may be audiovisual blurbs or adsfor a candidate. In the case of movie/music embodiment the items may besnippets of content, and so on.

Sampling group 120 includes a number of participants 121 who aredesignated A, B, C, D, E, etc. in FIG. 1. While in a conventionalconsumer event the participants are human, it is not unreasonable toassume that at some point in the future automated robotic entities maybe involved in evaluating and rating the taste and desirableness ofconsumable items. The site where the sampling group 120 is congregatedmay be at a consumer residence, a restaurant/bar, a wine cellar, or anyother convenient assembly location. The sampling group 120 may begeographically distributed in some cases as well so that a “virtual”wine tasting could take place electronically.

In a commercial establishment embodiment, the set of items could beimplemented as selections of a standalone unit within a well-knownelectronic dispensing system used for providing small samples of wine.By adapting such system to provide blind tastings, the invention couldbe implemented in conjunction with standard electronic debit cardstypically employed with such applications. In such instances the cardmay in fact be programmed to record the customer's selections (such aswhich station the customer took a sample) so the customer does not haveto remember such details. At a later visit the patron's card could bescanned to identify which wines they liked during the prior visit, thusincreasing the odds they will find a satisfactory selection.

In a preferred wine tasting party embodiment the participants 121 employa data collecting tool 130 for collecting event data which, in apreferred embodiment is a portable device such as a PDA (for example aBlackberry), a cell phone (for example an iPhone) or the like. A smallcomputing system such as a notebook or PC could also be used ifnecessary. The data collecting tool 130 includes conventional networkingcapability (wired or wireless) to exchange/communicate event data,including with an event management website 135 discussed further below.

In one application the participants each include their own datacollecting tool 130 which allows for more flexibility, privacy, etc.during the event data collection process. Furthermore other offers,incentives, etc. from vendors can be communicated more easily anddirectly in such fashion. However even a single data collecting tool 130can be used as explained in further detail below.

Data collecting tool 130 may also employ speech recognition and naturallanguage techniques for collecting the item ratings data. Thesefacilities may be built in directly within the device, or may operate ina distributed fashion with the assistance of server computers in anetworked configuration.

A variety of mechanisms can be used for collecting the identifyinginformation for each of the items 110 and profiles for the participants121. Typically speaking an item to be rated will include an RF ID, a barcode, a label or other identifier that can be examined and correlateduniquely to a particular item. This data can be input manually to datacollecting tool 130, or in some cases, can be captured electronicallydirectly from the item itself. For example an RF reader, a bar codereader or image capturing device (i.e., an onboard camera not shown) canread/scan an identifying label for an item. The image/bar code data canthen be decoded and correlated with conventional software to a determinea match from a database of items (not shown) to identify the item inquestion. In some cases, as in a high end gourmet kit embodiment notedabove, a package of items 110 may include electronic ID informationstored on a conventional memory media device such as a USB card, amemory stick, and other similar devices. Other examples will be apparentto those skilled in the art.

Profiles for the samplers 121 can be determined automatically eitherfrom prior records for such entities, information gleaned from theirrespective data tools 130, from a social networking site profile, etc.In some instances the profiles can be received as part of a data sharingarrangement for members, such as offered by the Google or FacebookConnect programs for example. In other cases profile data is simplyentered manually as desired to data tool 130.

Other event related data (such as situs, date, time, control conditions)can also be collected as desired.

The event data, including profile data and item data is (optionally)communicated to an event management website 135, and in some casesdirectly to a variety of interested commercial entities 140. In thelatter case this can include, for example, one or more brick and mortarentities, such as wine vendors (growers, distributors, etc.), local winemerchants of wine, etc. and e-commerce operators such as winerecommender sites, social network sites and other online operators.

Such entities 140 can similarly generate their own respective feedback,promotional and other related data for the event, which is pushed backto one or more data collecting tools 130. For example upon detectingthat a participant 121 has rated a particular wine with a favorablerating a wine vendor could push an electronic coupon to such participanteither electronically by data collecting tool 130, by email/electronicmessage, and/or by conventional mail. In instances where the vendorreceives advance notice of the event, they can opt to send samples orpromotional items ahead of time to gain access to the participantopinions and samplings. Other examples are discussed below.

For some applications data collecting tool 130 is also responsible formanaging, reporting and analyzing the results of the event data as notedat 150 to determine potential prizes and the like for individualparticipants. This analysis is preferably done dynamically as the itemrating data is collected, but could be done at the end of the process ifnecessary. The nature of the competitions, games and prizes is discussedfurther below.

In other cases the managing/reporting/prize analysis of the event may bedone remotely by event management website (or another site) 135 whichhas a separate computing system (not shown) which has more resources, ismore adapted for such task, etc. The report/prize data can then becommunicated back to the participants as desired during or at the end ofthe event.

The general features and interfaces of event management website 135 arediscussed below in more detail in connection with FIGS. 4A to 4E.Generally speaking this website can be programmed with suitableintelligence to effectively manage a number of ongoing events for hostsand participants. The events of course can differ, but for purposes ofillustration a wine sampling application is presented herein as apreferred embodiment.

The event management website basically coordinates with online users tohelp them set up and operate sampling events for wine. The website canalso be configured to operate all aspects of the event if necessary. So,for example, during the event itself, the ratings data can be sent andprocessed directly at website 135, and it can coordinate betweenrespective entities 140 to determine appropriate feedback for theparticipants. This has the advantage of centralizing the event data andmanagement for multiple vendors.

FIG. 2 is a flow diagram depicting a data collecting operation 200 of apreferred embodiment of the invention for collecting and analyzingratings for items. At step 205, the items to be rated are sampled areset up in appropriate fashion for sampling. As noted above this couldtake place at consumer's residence or in a commercial establishment suchas a restaurant, wine tasting room, bar, etc.

The setup step 205 should also assist an event planner or manager indetermining the format to be used for the sampling, including, forexample, the type of data to be collected, rules for participants, andrules for scoring/prizes. As an example the set up step 205 may specifya number of event parameters such as:

a ratings scale to be used in a scoring process;

whether items must be given different/unique ratings;

whether ratings scores are to be normalized for each user;

whether (and which) certain types of ratings scores should be weightedor eliminated from consideration in a final scoring process;

what types of ratings are to be provided by participants (see below);

whether event data, including ratings, participant profiles, etc., areto be shared with other entities, and, if so, which ones;

whether prizes/awards are to be employed in the event, and, if so, whattypes (explained further below);

whether one or multiple data collecting tools 130 are to be used;

whether the event is to be registered, and, if so, at whichestablishments;

what kind of food, if any, was served as an accompaniment (in the caseof a wine tasting).

These are but examples of course and other potential event rules will beapparent to those skilled in the art based on the particularapplication. All of these parameters may be entered into a suitableevent set up interface of event management website 135 as explainedbelow. An example of a preferred data screen for use with an eventmanagement website 135 for this purpose is shown below in connectionwith FIG. 4A.

Returning to FIG. 2, at step 210 the individual participant profiles areobtained. Again, as noted earlier, this may be secured from preexistingdatabase records, from information gleaned from a participant's datacollecting tool, etc. Alternatively it can be entered manually tocompile an event participant list using an interface of event managementwebsite 135 as seen, for example in FIG. 4B. As seen therein a user cansimply connect to an event in progress at the appropriate time.

Again in FIG. 2, the participant data preferably includes suchinformation as age, sex, residence address, and other similardemographic data. Other data can be collected as needed for particularapplications, such as income, occupation, place of employment,passwords, social security numbers, driver license nos. credit card nos.etc. subject to privacy considerations and participant comfort level. Insome applications it may be desirable to collect other account data forparticipants, such as food/wine club memberships at local markets, emailaccounts, social networking site IDs/accounts, etc. This additionalaccount data can be used more easily by merchants to identify andcorrelate incentives and other feedback correctly to the rightindividual. As an example the event data can be more easily captured(along with images, photos, audio data) and published as content on aparticipant's social networking page in an environment such as thatoffered by Myspace, Facebook, and other similar sites.

At step 215, the items to be rated are analyzed as noted above tocollect their identifying criteria. For example in a wine tasting event,the items would be individual bottles of wine from a particular vendor,including a variety of grape, year of bottling and retail cost ifdesired. Generally speaking, website 135 is enabled with a feature (seebelow in FIG. 4A) that allows a host to merely specify these parametersso that the wines are automatically selected, packaged and delivered tothe event host prior to the event date. In other cases website 135 maymerely provide a list of suggested items to be included in a sampling,which list can be shared and communicated to other participants toensure proper representation.

Accordingly in certain embodiments where the participants bring theitems directly, they may be told to restrict the items to wines of aparticular grape type and a particular price range to limit variabilityand improve the usefulness of the collected data. To increase theentertainment value the website event manager, or an event planner ororganizer may “seed” the item set 110 with either or both: a) highlyrated wines outside of the price range and which are consideredsignificantly superior; b) poorly rated inexpensive wines that areconsidered inferior. These additional item points can further interjectinterest in the game as the guests can be told of such items and beasked to guess and discriminate their presence among another set ofitems during a blind taste test.

The data is captured manually or automatically as desired. In someinstances it may be possible to have event management website 135coordinate with local merchants using “registered” data events, in thesame manner that weddings and the like are conventionally registered. Insuch cases the purchase of the item in question could be correlatedautomatically by software at the event management website 135 with thecorrect event to avoid further data entry impositions on theparticipants. By registering events it is also possible to avoidsituations where guests bring inadvertently duplicate items. Furthermorethe use of registered events allows an event organizer to monitor thestate of progress of item collections (see below) and determine thecomposition of the item group, and thus determine whether supplementalpurchases/items are needed to augment the samples.

During step 220 the participant ratings, predictions and other desiredevent data are collected, preferably at the time of the event and inreal-time while the participants are involved in the event. In apreferred embodiment at least the individual item ratings are collected.The data can be collected by the event management website 135 (as seenbelow in FIGS. 4A, 4C), or by another program executing on datacollection device 130. In the case of wine items at least, the identityof the items is preferably concealed so that the raters are not aware orbiased by the source of the item. In the “kit” arrangement noted earlierit is possible that the individual items can be labeled with genericidentifying information that conceals the true identity/source topreserve the integrity of the blind tasting.

In addition to rating data the event can be enhanced by the addition ofother ancillary data that is used to further increase the interest andenjoyment of the participants. For example the event may be staged as aform of wine tasting game or competition in which participants aresolicited not only for their own opinions of the item in question, butalso for their predictions on: a) how their significant other would ratethe item in question; b) how the other members in the sampling groupwould rate the item in question; c) how an expert or connoisseur wouldrate the item.; d) a cost for the item; e) whether they would recommendthe wine to a good friend, etc. Other prediction/opinion data can becaptured, of course, and the invention is not limited in this respect.

In some applications, particularly involving wine, the ratings dataroutine can be programmed to provide suggestions to the participants tocapture other data specific to such product, such as the particulartastes or smells evoked by the wine, what food they may have had anaccompaniment, and the names of any other beverages they may haveconsumed immediately before. This feature makes it easier on theparticipants to provide specific feedback data and allows them to learnabout other qualifications/criteria used to judge the quality of wines.Similar options could be made available for other products.

The data is input either by touchpad, keyboard entry or speech by eachparticipant into their respective data collecting tool 130 which isconfigured to manage the event in case event management website 135 isnot used. In the case of a touchpad or keyboard entry, it is possiblethat other icons and interaction mechanisms could be provided to signifyfeedback. For instance, an iPhone like device could have an icon of awine glass that the user interacts with to express a rating. This couldbe done by filling it to a certain level (1-10) or emptying to express arating. In another case the size of the glass could be altered fromsmaller to larger with a finger touch to express a rating. Alternativelya visual graph or spectrum could be employed to express a moresubjective rating.

In the case of speech input a speech recognition routine is used todecode words and phrases from the participant, typically in conjunctionwith a natural language engine. Furthermore in some cases it may bedesirable (with the permission of the participants) to record andjournal the discussions of the participants for each item for laterreview and study by vendors. These types systems are well-known in theart and thus are not discussed herein.

Again the act of collecting data can be managed through website 135 orlocally as well. For example in cases where the participants haveindividual collecting tools 130, a main event organizer can coordinatethe collection of data from each individual device by syncing up andcollecting data from such separate devices—preferably through a wirelessconnection. Alternatively such devices can connect to website 135. Thuseach participant tool 130 connects into an event organizer systemoperated on a main data collection tool 130 locally or remotely atwebsite 135. This allows a large group of individuals to be managed froma single device platform for the convenience of the group, as the bulkof the compilations, tabulations, etc. can be done with a single tool.It should be noted nonetheless that the results of the event, includinga report on item ratings, and other related event data, can be pushed toeach individual device as desired.

If only a single data collecting tool 130 is employed, it may bedesirable to shield the data input from respective participants. Toaccomplish this, an electronic shield or screen may be imposed inbetween individual participant entries. Thus each participant would onlysee their respective data input screens, and at the end of their turn,they would pass on the device to the next participant. The main dataevent routine would then automatically blank the data from theparticipant within the collection screen and present the nextparticipant with the appropriate fields ready for data entry. An exampleof a data screen for use with an event management website 135 is shownbelow in connection with FIG. 4C.

At step 225 the ratings and prediction data are tabulated in accordancewith the objectives and parameters set for the event. Thus the itemratings are evaluated and computed to determine a final overallrating/ranking for each item. An example of options available forratings selectable by a host from an event management website 135 isshown below in connection with FIG. 4A.

As noted above the ratings from participants may be adjusted ornormalized in some instances to provide better comparisons of data.Rankings and ratings may be presented with or without suchnormalizations.

More interesting, perhaps, are not the item rankings per se, but theparticipant ratings. For example, a determination can be made of thefollowing:

-   -   1. A ranking of couple ratings comparisons, such as by        identifying which couple provided the closest ratings results        (as measured, for example, by a conventional least squares        calculation);    -   2. conversely, within such set, which couple provided the most        disparate ratings results (again as measured, for example, by a        conventional least squares calculation);    -   3. which pair of people in the group provided the closest        ratings data;    -   4. which pair of people in the group provided the most disparate        ratings data; all of the above can be presented in some form of        table or visual graph identifying associations between        individuals for ease and convenience;    -   5. correlations between each participant and their deviation        from aggregate group scores; for example, for the highest rated        item, identifying the person who rated such item as the highest        within their scores;    -   6. conversely, identifying the person who subjectively gave the        lowest rating to the item rated highest by the group;    -   7. similarly, identifying the person who gave the highest rating        to the item rated lowest by the group;    -   8. along such lines, identifying the person(s) who gave the        lowest rating to the item rated lowest by the group;    -   9. identifying the highest rated items rated by sex or age        groups.

These correlations, and others, can be compiled to provide insights toand for the benefit of the participants.

In some applications where it is desirable to add a gaming orcompetitive element to the event, it is possible to correlate the scoresof participants against other third party references, such as wineexperts, connoisseurs, and the like. This is also one of the optionsshown in FIG. 4A.

Back in FIG. 2 during step 220, the participants would be permitted toenter their predicted scores for what such third party references hadprovided to such item. Awards, prizes, coupons or other incentives canbe provided by wine vendors and merchants to promote interest in suchcontests. The contests can be structured as a “predict the score of theexperts” game to solicit predictions from participants and as a basisfor further recognition within the contest.

As noted above, the invention allows participants to provide furtherpredictions on how other members in the group may rate a particularitem. For example, spouses and other pairs of participants could beasked how their significant other would rate the item in question. Thispart of the tabulation provides interest to the participants as it helpsto identify those couples with the most and least similar tastes.

Similarly, predictions made by participants about group tastes, expectedcosts, and recommendations are also useful for both entertainmentpurposes within the group as well as data collection for entities 140mentioned earlier. By presenting the data collection in an interestingand entertaining manner, participants both enjoy the experience andprovide valuable data to the various item merchants and other e-commerceoperators. As noted earlier, the event data may be collected anduploaded dynamically to various entities directly or through eventmanagement website 135, such as to vendor-merchants 245, social networkand recommender sites 250 and game/entertainment sites 255. This wouldhave the benefit of allowing such entities to deliver feedback and/orcontent related advertising to individual participant's on-the-fly whilethe experience and impressions are fresh on the minds of suchindividuals, and directly in response to the ratings and prediction dataprovided by the participants.

In some instances entities 140 can be given access directly totabulation data from step 225 as well, as maintained by a master eventorganizer routine executing on one or more of the data collectingdevices, or at website 135. This allows for other dynamic recommendation“matchings” that can be provided in real-time to the participants. Forexample, a vendor 140 may note that individuals A and B are highlycorrelated in their wine (or other item) preferences. It may also beknown (from other data mining resources) that certain wine preferencesare also highly correlated to other preferences in art, literature,food, movies, or some other endeavor. A vendor computing system (notshown) can thus draw upon such recommendation technologies and give asuggestion to either or both individuals A, B based on their respectiveprior preference expressions.

So if participant A had recently purchased title X from Amazon, orrented movie Y from Netflix, these informational tidbits could becommunicated to participant B—who is known to be highly correlated withA's tastes—in the form of friendly conversational ice breakers for suchindividuals to facilitate social discourse. Similarly the system couldidentify the fact that both A and B had recently seen or reviewed thesame movie very highly, and this fact could be shared as well with bothparticipants to increase enjoyment for the group.

Therefore, one corollary aspect of the invention allows for situationsin which advertising and/or other solicitations for opinions onunrelated items are secured during ratings capture step 220 fromparticipants. Thus a movie or book vendor 140 may be permitted topiggy-back on the event and make specific targeted queries interspersedduring the event ratings periods to garner further opinion data, and/orprovide targeted ads based on correlating such ratings to a database ofother items and/or an advertising stock. Other advertisers could employthe same function for their products/services.

At step 230 results are presented to the participants regarding theoverall scoring, rating of each item. An example of a preferred datascreen for presenting such results with an event management website 135is shown below and discussed in connection with FIG. 4D.

These results can be presented in a sequence based on a score, or,preferably, in a same sequence as that used for the sampling. Thisprovides an opportunity to explore and investigate the character of eachitem among the participants without knowledge of the final results.Generally speaking if the sequence is done based on overall winners,losers, etc. the discussion portion is more focused on the resultsrather than on specifics of each entry. The data output can take anydesired textual or graphical form.

In some instances it may be desirable to allow item vendors to presentpromotional materials during the event, so that as each item ispresented and rated, various forms of background information arepresented for the benefit of the participants. This can be displayedalong with the results as seen, for example in FIG. 4D discussed furtherbelow.

Then at step 235 in FIG. 2 results are presented regarding thecharacteristics of the participants as explained above for step 220. Anexample of a preferred output for this step is also shown in FIG. 4D.This aspect of the event can also be highly entertaining as inevitablysurprises and insights are gleaned by the participants from the ratingsbehavior of their fellow participants. Rewards/booby prizes can be thenbe meted out as this time as well, for example to the participants whomeet the criteria noted above, and/or who brought the highest ratedwine, or the worse rated wine, etc. etc. Individuals who were bestpredictors of their significant others, experts, and the group can alsobe recognized.

During step 240 the various vendors 140 are preferably allowed topresent feedback and incentives to the participants. As noted earlier,the event data may be collected dynamically or collectively at the endof the event, depending on the particular application. The vendors 140may or may not have access to the tabulation results, or any otherprediction data provided by the participants beyond bare ratings for theitems. Again, the extent and scope of the data to be shared ispreferably left to the discretion of the event manager and theindividual participants.

The feedback and incentives can take any number of forms. It may be assimple as generic gift certificates for particular types of wine (or forwhatever item was being sampled) or other accompanying products (cheese,chocolate or other gourmet foods).

Coupons can also be distributed to the participants, eitherelectronically or in hard copy form by regular mail. The coupons can becorrelated to a participant's residence or place of work, so that theyare usable only within certain establishments. These establishments, inturn can thus coordinate with wine growers, vendors, etc. to targetparticular individuals within a certain radius of their stores.

The main wine vendors could further track the participants' preferences,and then use a conventional map mash-up to further educate and point outthe location of items of interest based on the results of the event. Forexample, a vendor could track a user's location and inform him/her thata merchant (or vineyard, or restaurant, or bar) at a particular locationin their vicinity carried one or more wine types determined to be ofinterest to the participant based on the sampling event (and similarprior events). By providing this information immediately in conjunctionwith the occurrence of the event the vendors can capitalize on theparticipants' interest and afford them an easy opportunity to satisfytheir wishes.

Other item related information could also be passed down to theparticipants, such as the history, production or marketing details ofthe vineyard in question for wines which they found attractive.Predictions and recommendations for other wines could be made as well,using standard corroborative filtering techniques.

Accordingly, a series of wine related coupons could be generated andcustomized for each participant, and downloaded automatically into theirdata collection tool 130, another electronic account, or under controlof accounts through event management website 135. Again these arepreferably used in establishments which have a relationship with thewine vendor. The coupons may be accessed directly from the participant'sdata collection tool 130 or another computing device, and thus easilyredeemed (i.e. by referencing an identification number) from localmerchants.

From a social networking perspective, the participants could bepresented with additional information relating their ratings to othermembers within or outside of their social circles. For example anotification could be made to other members of their social group thatthe user was involved in a particular event. By educating them aboutother similarly minded persons the participants can again deriveadditional benefit and enjoyment from the sampling events. The option toelect such inclusion can be made, for example, preferably using aninterface screen such as shown in FIG. 4B or some other suitable means.

As noted below, vendors can mine the lists to see who are goodcandidates for invitations to wine tastings and other similar parties.Furthermore the vendors may be able to do more sophisticated data miningto detect more subtle correlations, such as whether there are anymaterial ratings differences depending on a sequence in which two itemsare sampled, or if certain items tend to be rated higher when theyincorporated into samplings with other particular items. For example, anitem A may tend to receive a higher rating when it is sampled rightafter item B, instead of being sampled before item B. These types ofcorrelations can be identified used, in fact, to develop preferred“sequences” of wine tastings for those persons interested in optimizingan enjoyment of a sampling event.

FIG. 3 illustrates the main components and operations used in apreferred back end process of the invention for compiling and updatingratings, users, etc. at respective e-commerce sites and other vendorfacilities. This back end process is preferably implemented as one ormore software routines executing on a variety of servers at eventmanagement website 135, or at other computing systems controlled by thevarious respective entities.

At step 305 event management website 135, or a vendor computing system(not shown) provides basic set up information for the event, such as byassigning an event ID, a group ID, or similar identifier. Thisidentifier could include a list of the items, the participants, thelocation of the event, and other similar reference data.

In the case of a prepared or packaged kit, event management website 135or the vendor (or some other entity) is responsible for compiling anappropriate set of items, which may be associated with a kit identifier.Website 135 can include programmed logic for this task; alternativelythe vendors and other similarly situated entities can design the kitsbased on their particular marketing and research needs.

For example, a wine vendor may want to see what the public's reaction tovarious formulations or mixes of the same type of grape, say Cabernet,Merlot, Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, etc. The kit items would thus beconstituted of multiple variants from the same grower/vendor. The kitscould be supplied directly to event hosts, therefore, or to website 135for distribution through managed events.

The ratings data received from the event could then be used by vendorsto determine optimal blends for production and planning. In otherinstances a vendor may want to know how their product stacks upcompetitively against other selected products from unrelated thirdparties. The kits would then allow such vendors to reach out anddetermine the competitiveness of their product in a real-worldenvironment. The composition of the item set in the kit, therefore, canbe tailored as desired to provide meaningful experimental feedback data.The kits may include other complementary products, of course, which maydesigned to optimize the enjoyment of the product in question, forexample, cheese, crackers, bread, nuts, fruit, etc. in the case of wine.The value of website 135 as an intermediary is thus potentially quiteuseful as the manager of such system can pick and choose from differentvendors, and create customized kits as needed by individual events.

During step 310 the item data and user profile data is uploaded. Theitems are correlated as necessary with a database of items (not shown)for purposes of accurate record keeping. When the item is unknown, ornew, the back end process 300 can create a new record as needed to beginthe compilation process. Again in a kit implementation the data isalready pre-stored.

Similarly the profile data for the users is recorded and maintained forthe event as well. As alluded to above appropriate privacy measures canbe implemented to assure the anonymity of the users.

In embodiments where website 135 or the vendor is conducting scoring,tabulating, etc., this is done by any conventional means as shown instep 315 in accordance with the guidelines noted above. Alternatively inimplementations where the data collection devices 130 contain suchfunctionality, the already tabulated data is uploaded to the back endprocess. It will be apparent that the tabulation of the event data couldbe done partially at both locations to share the burden and so as tointegrate other data from sources unavailable from one or other systems.For example a website 135 or vendor back end routine may have access todata from other sources through contractual relationships that are notavailable to a typical end user of a data collection device 130. Theback end process may also have access to more powerful data computationand presentation tools which can be used to enhance the feedbackprovided to the event participants.

If a competition or game is implicated as part of the event, the website135 (or vendor) accounts for and determines whether any of theparticipants are entitled to prizes and the like at step 318. Again theformat and prizes will vary according to the particular application. Asnoted earlier one type of award may hinge on the ability of participantsto guess the ratings previously provided by known experts.

At step 320 the item and user records are updated based on the scoresand other attributes provided to the items, and the ratings, predictionsand other data provided by the participants. Again the amount and typesof data to be collected and stored will be a function of the articles inquestion and the particular system to be implemented.

One or more calculations can be performed at step 322 to identifymarkers and predictors. These correspond to individuals among theparticipants who have distinguished themselves as reporting scores foritems which tend to track the mean, median or other statisticalparameter of the event group, a reference set of tasters, a largerpopulation group, etc. In other words these persons are singled out fortheir predictive prowess as it were because their tastes are found toaccurately mirror/predict the ratings of others. These individuals maybe targeted/solicited for inclusion in focus groups and other eventssponsored by vendors to help rate and identify new products. Otheroffers and incentives may be presented to such individuals to gleantheir insights.

Other tabulations gleaned from operations associated with step 225 (FIG.2) can also be compiled. For example, a website 135 (or vendor or otherentity) may want to compile records on couples who tend to have similartastes, or high accuracy ratings in terms of predicting each other'stastes.

The information obtained from the item ratings and scores can also beused at step 325 for marketing, planning and inventory analysisroutines. For example, if a particular item is found to be particularlyappealing to a particular demographic profile, this information can beprovided and used in a targeted marketing campaign so that the selectionof individuals receiving such promotions are likely to respondfavorably. Other uses for this data will be apparent to those skilled inthe art.

Similarly if a particular item is found to be very popular this fact canbe used to identify potential inventory shortfalls, production changes,etc. Conversely an item that is not found to be desirable can bedeemphasized as needed in favor of better performers. This type ofanalysis, of course, is most useful early on in the introduction cycleof a new product since sales and adoption rate data may be incomplete.Again the collection of this data by website 135 places it in a uniqueposition to provide valuable insights to item vendors and distributors.

Website 135 and/or vendor(s) may then use the event data, includingtabulation data, to generate reports 345, coupons/incentives 350, andfeedback to local merchants 355. The reports may take any number offorms suitable for relating the general parameters of the event and theresults thereof. Again, as noted above, in the context of anentertainment event the report may include text, charts, figures andother graphical data that communicates the scores of the items, scoresof the participants, item-item correlations, and participantcorrelations among other parameters.

In some instances the reports may take the form of ongoing alerts to theparticipants, informing them immediately when special offers areavailable on items which they rated favorably at the event, or for itemsdetermined to be likely of interest. These alerts may be geographicallytargeted as well, and be correlated to the participant's physicallocation, so that, for example, an alert for item A only appears whenthe user is in one location, while an alert for item B would appear whenthe user is in a separate location. The participants can elect tosubscribe to such alerts on an item by item basis or any otherappropriate level of control.

The reports may also inform participants of other complementary productsthey are likely to enjoy as a result of their scoring on the eventitems.

Coupons/incentives 350 may also take a variety of forms depending on theimplementation. As noted above the coupons may be in paper or electronicform, and may be delivered by regular mail or electronically to theparticipants and other targeted members of the public. A couponpreferably is in electronic form suitable for delivery to theparticipant's computing device (including data collection device 130 insome instances) and will be correlated (or redeemable conditionally) insome fashion with a merchant with whom the vendor has a favorablerelationship, and/or a merchant this is geographically located proximateto the event site, the domiciles of the respective participants, or theresidences of other targeted members of the public. The location of theparticipant can be determined by reference to GPS data, cell tower data,packet delay data, etc., and other mechanisms known in the art.Additional geographic mapping data can be provided along with anelectronic coupon so that when it is delivered to the participant's datacollection device 130, an electronic map can be presented to the userindicating the location of the nearest store/merchant carrying theitem(s) in question to facilitate and encourage purchases of theproducts from preferred merchants. The coupons can be for items of thesame type as those rated in the event, or they can of course be simplyother items.

Alternatively an email or other electronic message can include embeddedelectronic links and other content related to an online vendor of theitems. So, for example, a participant may receive an email with linksinforming them of a number of online wine vendors who have the bestprice available for one or more wines rated highly by (or predicted tobe desirable for) the participant. The links can be generated by anelectronic based mass marketing system (not shown) that automaticallyexecutes targeted searches based on the wine in question (i.e., a 2004Stag's Leap Chardonnay) at competitive shopping sites (i.e., such asGoogle's shopping site) and delivers results directly to theparticipant. This type of targeted marketing allows for higherconversions and monetization of such advertisements. By partnering withdirect to consumer wine retail websites, a portion of such leadsgenerated by the present invention can be captured in the form ofcommissions.

Therefore at step 360 the back end process (at website 135 or at avendor site) preferably performs tracking and tabulating of theredemptions made by participants and other persons for the couponproducts in question. This monitoring of the performance of thecoupons/incentives allows for further refinement, targeting and followup with the appropriate consumer profile. For example, the redemptionrate for coupons of varying values, for particular local merchants, forparticular products, etc., may be compiled to determine the efficacy ofthe promotions. Other events which can be tracked, of course, includethe participant selections of advertising presented for such products,as referred to above in FIG. 2 reference numeral 240.

As shown at 365 website 135 and/or the vendor may also have their owndatabase for tracking item and participant correlations. This may bedone using any conventional collaborative, corroborative, or other datafiltering techniques known in the art. This allows website 135 and/orthe vendors, for example, to identify clusters of participants withsimilar tastes, items which tend to be correlated well with other items,etc.

So for example, after reviewing event data and noting that person Apreferred product X, the system may note that person B, who is wellcorrelated to A, has not tried X at this time. This analysis (othertechniques are also possible of course) can help to provide predictionsand recommendations to person B (and others similarly situated) bywebsite 135 and/or the vendor for more effective targeting. Similarlythe item ratings can be updated to determine item-to-item correlations.For example, the system may note that persons who rated X highly alsorated Y (and other products) highly, and so forth. This information canbe used, again, for marketing, advertising and other promotionalpurposes. Thus, when person A expresses an interest in product X,website 135 and/or the vendor can generate a prediction and relatedrecommendation for A to inform him/her of the existence of Y (and othersas appropriate).

Again, as noted, the recommendations can take the form of very specificgeographic targeted alerts, messages, so that when A is in a particularstore (brick and mortar or virtual) the system can detect his/herlocation, and notify A (through a PDA/cell phone browser, or Internetinterface) that product Y is available (again, perhaps with anaccompanying electronic coupon) within such within such establishment(including websites of course). Thus the invention correlates userlocation with items/products in which they have expressed an interest(or items which are predicted for them to be of interest). It then helpsthem to easily identify proximate sources of the same, and particularlyfrom establishments who are coordinated with website 135 and/or thevendor to effectively market/sell targeted products. In someimplementations a data collection device can be set to an auto-itemdiscovery mode, so that when the participant is within an establishment,the device can inform the person on whether there are desirable items atsuch location. This creates an end-to-end virtual marketing/distributionchain that is optimized for the user dynamically on a location andproduct basis.

At 355 the local merchants are provided with excerpts, as desired, ofthe tabulated ratings and other event data. This assists such entitiesin performing their own localized target marketing to individualslocated in close proximity to their establishments. This information canalso assist them in determining their own planning and inventorymanagement.

The event data can also be provided to generic product recommendersystems at step 340. For example, other websites or other set of vendorsmay be interested in maintaining a database of user tastes, userclusterings, item correlations, etc. for their own respectivecollaborative/corroborative filtering system. As noted earlier, a numberof third party sites are known to provide suggestions and ideas forwines, and thus such entities can exploit the data collectionsmaintained by embodiments of the present invention. These entities canmaintain their own separate user clusterings, item correlations, etc.,or they can simply use the already tabulated data from the vendor ascreated at 365.

In some embodiments the activities of the participants can becommunicated to and recorded at one or more social networking sites asshown at 330. For example a social networking site member may be aparticipant in one of the events noted herein. This fact, along with(all or some portion of) the person's preferences as expressed in theevent, may be communicated and maintained either at such member'spersonal site, as part of a personal data feed to other selectedmembers, or at other social groups maintained at such site. For instancethe social networking site may maintain a wine group that tracks ratingsand interests for its members. The tabulated data from the member (andother members from other events) can be used to compile one or morelists of brand items preferred by such site members.

Again the inclusion of such data at the social networking site would bean option available to the member at his/her own discretion. Theparticipant may elect for the event data to be selectively disseminatedto preferred members of course, including only persons within a certainselect circles or designated degrees of friendship/kinship. In somecases it may be possible to anonymize the data from participatingmembers so that only the raw ratings are provided at step 330 forcompiling of the community's overall tastes.

It will be understood by those skilled in the art that the above ismerely an example and that countless variations can be implemented inaccordance with the present teachings. A number of other conventionalsteps that would be included in a commercial application have beenomitted, as well, to better emphasize the present teachings.

The features, functionality and appearance of a preferred website 135configured in accordance with teachings of the present invention isshown in FIGS. 4A to 4E. These figures illustrate examples of interfacesand functions performed in a preferred embodiment of the invention inwhich the items consist of wine articles.

In FIG. 4A, a preferred embodiment of a wine party event setup interface410 is depicted. This screen is primarily responsible for collecting thesetup information discussed above in connection with FIGS. 2 and 3,including steps 205-215. The entry fields and options areself-explanatory but are explained here further nonetheless. As seen inFIG. 4A, a party host can specify the date and time of an event, and thelocation. The party host can also specify what type of event is required(in this case a tasting of Cabernet related wines). The event ID and KitID are also shown for reference and administrative purposes. Aparticipant response status is also conveniently displayed so that hehost can determine an expected attendance and progress to date incollecting appropriate samples (when that option is elected).

The Event details 415 also highlight other options that can be elected.For example, a host can decide whether they are going to run/manage theevent on their own, or if they are going to rely on wine party website135 instead. In the former case the host can then also specify thenature and contents of media 112 to be used, so that it can becustomized to their liking and requirements. Similarly the event hostcan specify that they are going to supply the items, or that the wineparty site should supply the wine. In the latter case the host can electfor the items in the kit to be automatically compiled in accordance withthe criteria noted above in step 215, i.e., to include wines inparticular price ranges, for particular wineries, or even request arandomized option. Furthermore the host can specify whether the event isto be a blind tasting or not. In those cases where website is to supplythe items, an option can then be elected for the bottles to be shippedto the event host with blanking labels to obscure their origin.Alternatively if the host is to purchase the wines they can nonethelessrequest a set of masking labels from website 135.

As noted above in step 220 the event host can specify what types of dataare to be collected, including ratings, predictions, profiles, etc. asnoted earlier. Another selectable option is whether or not the itemsuppliers are allowed to present short multimedia promotions during theevent as discussed above. Furthermore the website 135 can be instructedto conduct various forms of games, competitions within the guidelinesaddressed earlier. For presenting results (as discussed for step 230,235) the system can be configured to present such information only toevent participants, or to share it with other vendors and merchants.

The types of prizes, promotions, etc., can also be specified as noted toinclude coupons and other incentives. To optimize response rates thesystem can be directed further to send timely reminders to participantsthrough different delivery channels. Similarly the system can include a“preview” option in which the overall selection/list of items is sent incompiled form to the participants to educate them in advance of theselections to be sampled at the event. Finally the host can also ask forsuggestions on particular types of foods to accompany the tasting, anddirect that such also be included as part of an event order.

All of the above options are modifiable directly within interface 410,and/or in more detailed form using a button/field 412. The latter merelypresents an additional menu/screen (not shown) for collecting this datain any desired and conventional manner known in the art.

Within the interface are also further options for configuring the event.For example at button/field 411 an additional menu/screen (not shown) isimplemented in conventional fashion for capturing the participant names,emails, and other desired profile information as noted above in step210. Field 413 allows the event host to select among and pick thedifferent types of sampling kits that can be used for the event as notedabove. The host's account information, including contact and billinginformation, can be selected from field 414. Again, these are butexamples of the kinds of fields/data that can be collected within anevent set up interface, and it is expected that commercial embodimentswill vary visually and functionally significantly from this and fromeach other.

In FIG. 4B, a preferred embodiment of a wine party event hookupinterface 420 is depicted. This screen is primarily responsible forpermitting individual participants to connect to specific events. Thus,each participant preferably has an account which permits access todifferent events which the participant is invited to. A participantwould be given an access code or other URL for accessing the eventassociated with entry screen shown in FIG. 4B. Fields 421 provide theidentifying information for the event. At field 422 a participant cansee the results (final or in progress) for the event, including winningwines, winning participants, and the like. In portion 423 of theinterface a participant can view his/her prizes, individualized coupons,targeted promotional materials, etc. Other marketing information, adsand similar content can also be presented.

Profile information can be seen/altered at portion 424 of the interface,including demographic data, residence/work addresses, interests,affiliated account names at other sites (such as social networkingsites), etc. This allows for sharing and publishing of the event data atthe participant's discretion. An RSS feed can also be provided forinterface 420 for the benefit of broadcasting a participant's results.

Lastly, portion 425 of the interface includes some activatable button orURL to cause the participant to be connected to the event in question.By connecting to the event the participant can then participate in therating of items, review of contents, collection of promotionalmaterials, etc.

Next in FIG. 4C a preferred embodiment of a ratings capture interface430 is shown for the invention. Again the entry screen is adapted tocapture ratings by individual in a region 431, including the parametersdiscussed above in connection with FIGS. 2, 3, such as item ratings,predictions for other individuals, predictions for expert ratings, andother descriptors. Suggestions for descriptors can be given to theraters to facilitate data entry. As noted earlier in the preferredembodiment the screen resets itself after each person makes an entry andsequences to the next individual to allow for anonymous ratingscollecting.

In FIG. 4D a preferred embodiment of a results interface 440 is shown.In region 441 of the display it can be seen that scoring data iscompiled and presented for the participant's benefit, including anoverall ratings score, statistical information, relative placement ofthe item compared to others, predicted data, etc. It should be notedthat all or some portions of the results interface may be presented toindividual participant devices 130. In some cases it may be useful todepict the ratings data in graphical format.

At portion 442 of the interface the vendor of the item is given a canvasor display region in which to present multimedia information concerningthe item, such as text, graphics, images, video, audio, etc., conveyingbackground information on the items in question. Awards and otherrelated data can also be presented for the viewing audience's pleasure.This feature allows the vendors to showcase their wines and promotethemselves in short, succinct snippets.

In area 443 of the interface the participant can see predictions andrecommendations for other wines/items based on correlations to otheritems. Negative correlations can also be accommodated if desired. Thusthe participants can be given specific tailored suggestions on itemsthat they are likely to enjoy given a positive/negative rating for aparticular wine.

Finally, in area 444 the interface is adapted to allow participants toopt in to receive additional promotional materials, discounts, coupons,etc. for the item in question. For individual devices 130 this may causethe promotional data to be downloaded directly to the same, or in othercases it may be sent in email form. While not shown in interface 440 itwill be apparent that other areas of the display could be modified toprovide more comprehensive results comparing the entire item set, theentire set of scores for participants, etc.

FIG. 4E shows a preferred embodiment of a vendor interface 450 as couldbe employed in embodiments of the present invention. This datacapture/presentation screen permits vendors to manage and coordinatemultiple events involving their products. Thus, for each vendor, asoftware tool is provided at 451 to manage specific events. While thespecific format of this event manager is not shown, it could take theform of FIG. 4A, modified of course by any vendor's requirements.

At entry area 452, a software routine is adapted to allow the vendor topropose/construct event kits suitable for use at the item samplingevents. For example, the vendor may provide a list of wines of aparticular vineyard and grape type which they want website 135 topresent as an event kit. Alternatively this feature can be used by thevendors to vend specific kits independently with stock items from theevent management website 135. For example it may be desirable tore-package the vendor's items into suitable form (standardized bottles,containers, labels, etc.) that is consistent with a preferred appearancefor the kits.

For the distributor relationship manager function shown at 453, aroutine and related databases are adapted to permit the vendor toidentify key relationships with distributors, and to set up prioritizeddesignations of entities to be associated with participants. Forexample, as noted above a vendor may designate a particular set ofdistributors to be used in events associated with a particular zip code.The vendor can also specifically identify other websites (includingsocial networking sites for example) which are permitted to share oraccess data for particular events, products and/or participants. Otherexamples will be apparent to those skilled in the art.

An additional software option for managing competitions, prizes, etc, isprovided for at functional selection 454. This allows a vendor to set upvarious games in accordance with the discussion above in connection withstep 318 and related procedures (FIG. 3). Similarly, an option 455permits the vendor to manage product coupons and incentives, such asdesignating which items are to be associated with coupons, the amount ofsuch coupons, the locales of such coupons, the demographic profiles oftarget participants, etc. Again this information would be stored in aconventional database using well-known software and query techniques.

At option 456 the vendor is permitted to see a complete list of allevents associated with their products. Again, any form of presentationand format known in the art would be acceptable for this purpose.Preferably the vendor can see all upcoming events sorted by date, byitem, by participants, by demographic groups, etc.

Option 457 invokes a routine that displays product/participant ratinghistories. This, again, can be supported using any number ofconventional software programs and associated databases. This featurepreferably allows a vendor to sort and tabulate products by identifier,by ratings value, etc., and to identify participants who rank theirproducts high (or low) as well. The performance rating of an item canalso be tracked over time to see if it is changing. Similar studies canbe made of individuals, as well, to see if their interest is waxing orwaning in the vendor's products. All of this data can be used to helpdevelop and focus marketing/advertising campaigns and literature.

At option 458 the vendor can manage and view product recommendationdata, again using conventional software and databases adapted for suchpurpose. The system preferably allows a vendor to exploit bothcollaborative filtering (person to person) and corroborative filtering(item to item) techniques to identify trends and correlations betweenpersons and items. The vendor can also, if desired, explicitly bias thesystem so that a first item is correlated to a second item forpromotional purposes. Other correlation adjustments can be made asnecessary to promote the goals and targets of the vendor, such as byincreasing or decreasing the probability of certain predictions,recommendations, etc. Correlations between unrelated types of items canalso be specified, for example, so that a certain wine is recommendedwith a certain appetizer, dessert, etc. By developing/accessing usercorrelations the vendor can also begin to compile a library ofindividual tastes for their products and identify candidate persons forthe types of functions noted above in connection with procedure 322(FIG. 3).

Using option 459 a vendor can manage and view product promotionalcontent, including snippets of multimedia data appropriate forpresentation within a user interface at device 130 as noted earlier. Thevendor can also upload and edit content using conventional routines toformat the same into correct form for different types of participantcomputing platforms. The promotional content preferably should consistof short audiovisual presentations describing the history/background ofthe product, the vendor, etc., or in the case of wine, information onthe locale where the grapes are grown, the harvesting and manufacturingprocesses, quality control parameters, awards and other relatedadvertising data. Again in a sampling event context it is preferablethat the promos be of the same length, and not be too long so as to boreparticipants. The amount of time will vary according to product ofcourse, but in most cases a few minutes or less may be appropriate forthe item in question.

The vendor is also given an option at 460 to manage their genericaccount information, which may include passwords, billing information,addresses and other administrative data.

Again while illustrative data entry fields and content are depicted inFIGS. 4A-4E it will be understood by those skilled in the art that otherdata can be captured and presented, and other mechanisms can be employedto solicit the required information. The final form of such interfacesare expected to vary widely in accordance with the application and thenature of the items.

FIG. 5 illustrates a preferred process for conducting a competitiveratings game 500 as part of a gourmet item sampling event. This aspectof the invention allows participants to be evaluated and rewarded on anevent/team basis for consistency and accuracy of their ratings data.From a high level perspective this feature allows participants to matchtheir ratings against a prediction generated by a computerized scorermonitoring the event. Participants can then be rewarded based on howclosely their ratings match the predictions made by the computerizedscorer. Note that this technique can be used in other environments aswell, and is not limited to the present embodiments.

In some instances it may be necessary to solicit explicit ratings fromthe participants in advance to develop a profile, as is done withconventional recommendation systems. This data can be collected in anydesired fashion by reference to items already known to the system, sothat appropriate correlations can be developed for the participant inquestion. Since the identity of the items to be sampled is known inadvance, the invention can exploit this knowledge to pick ratings itemsbased on known correlations. Thus, if item X is correlated with enoughdata to item Y, and X is to be sampled at the event, the invention cansolicit ratings for item Y to assist with the later predictions for X.

It can be seen that the information for the participants/teams/event canalso be used by the invention to set up and determine the items to besampled at any particular event. In other words by knowing what winesthe participants have previously rated, it is possible to determine acorrelated set that is likely to be of interest to the groupparticipants. In other cases it may be desirable to develop newcorrelations between items, so the invention can suggest combinations ofitems intended to better flesh out an available data set, and thusincrease overall system prediction accuracy. Stated another way, thematrix of participant ratings/items can be augmented with creativeinducements to the hosts and participants, which in the long run shouldresult in increased satisfaction from improved predictions andrecommendations for participants/users.

At step 510, the host/participants of an event can elect to register andbe included in a competitive ratings game. Registration is preferably onan event basis, but it is also possible for other forms of collectivescoring, such as on a team basis (where a team is made up of a group ofn or more participants) or on an individual basis. These different formsof registration also permit different types of ratings to be presentedin different respective lists on the website of FIGS. 4A-4E for publicreview and entertainment. It is expected that this feature will promoteparticipation in embodiments of the invention as well by appealing tothe competitive streak in some participants.

It is expected that the computerized scorer will simply take the form ofthe recommendation engine such as described above in connection withsteps 340 and 457. Since most conventional recommender systems mustgenerate a prediction for a person before generating a recommendation,this fact can be exploited for a gaming purpose as set out herein. Thusthis aspect of the present invention allows participants to see andobserve the inner operations of a recommender system from anentertainment perspective and thus glean insights into their own tastesas well.

At step 520, ratings for the items are solicited in the same manner asdescribed above. As part of this process, the participants can beinformed in advance of what protocol will be used for the computerizedscorer to guess their ratings. For example the event may be set up sothat the participants are only told that the computerized scorer will begenerating predictions randomly for only some of the items, or for onlya single item as shown in box 525. Alternatively the participants may betold in advance which items the computerized scorer will be makingpredictions for, as shown in box 526.

Both options may be useful in different types of applications. Theusefulness of a random option lies in the fact that it is less likely toresult in a ratings bias which may occur as a result of participantstrying to “game” the system by providing artificial ratings designed tomaximize their score. If participants do not know in advance which itemis being considered for the ratings match competition, they are lesslikely to provide adulterated ratings.

At step 530 the recommendations system (not shown) generates predictionsfor the participants in any conventional fashion, including bycorroborative filtering, collaborative filtering, or some combination ofthe two. Other techniques known in the art can also be used. Theprediction by the computerized scorer therefore is performed for onemore of the items in the sample set used in the event.

After this the predictions by the computerized scorer and the ratingsprovided by the participants are compared on an item by item basis atstep 540. The scoring noted above for comparing participant scores canbe used here as well, such as by summing the square roots of thedifferences of the squares, or if desired, some other form ofmathematical analysis can be done. In the end, a table can be created(not shown) correlating the performance of each of the participantsagainst the computerized scorer for each item so evaluated. This tablecan be stored in an array or any other convenient form for manipulation,storage, etc.

During step 550 an overall event/team score is determined. This can beas simple again as summing the cumulative differences noted in step 540.This event/team data can be presented to the participants as part of theother scoring items noted above in connection with FIGS. 4C and 4D.

Note that to allow for better metrics and benchmarks, the competitiveaspect of the invention may be tied or restricted to specific game kits(described above) having a known composition of item samples. Forexample a standard set of Chardonnays from 10 particular wineries may beused. This will promote better comparisons and evaluation of data sincethe item sets are less variable and thus better characterized acrosslarger sample sizes.

Another beneficial side effect of this aspect of the invention is thatit is likely to induce participants to provide more accurate andconsistent scores for the items than prior art schemes, since theparticipant will know that such input will increase the odds that thecomputerized scorer will generate an accurate prediction for suchperson, and thus improve an overall team score. This symbiotic nuancemakes the participant into a more of a cooperator with the system, inthe sense that they will want their tastes to be discernible andunderstandable to the recommendation system. Thus it is expected thatthis positive inducement will result in more accurate ratings data beingprovided by the participants. Again this particular aspect of theinvention is likely to have benefit in other domains.

At step 560 a competitive ratings database (not shown) is updated withthe new scores from the event/team/participants in question. Thisdatabase can mined as well for targeting marketing based on thelikelihood that team members, or event participants, are likely to beassociated with each other and have similar tastes in other products.For example it may be useful to treat the entire members of a team or anevent as a single entity, and construct ratings matrices for suchcollections of individuals. This would allow predictions andrecommendations to be served on higher order groupings—i.e. entities asopposed to individuals. Thus recommendations can be made on a team byteam basis based on collective ratings. At the end of the eventfollow-ups can be made with targeted marketing and recommendations tosuch individuals and teams in the manner noted above for FIG. 3.

The individual/event/team ratings can be published on the aforementionedwebsite in any convenient tabulated form as shown at step 570. Forexample, it might be desirable to list the highest performingindividuals in aggregate, and then broken down according to wine type,and/or by geographic region. The same strategy could be used for eventsand collections of participants (teams) who elect to compete.

If desired, optional prizes could be awarded on a periodic basis at step580, such as every week, every month, etc. Again the prizes may take anynumber of convenient forms, including coupons/discounts for the items inquestion or some other consideration. In some cases it may be useful tokeep an ongoing top list of all participants/teams/events, and at thesame time include a more contemporaneous or recent list to allow forfresh faces to receive recognition on a regular basis. This avoids theproblem of some sites being dominated by the same persons and renderingthe content somewhat stale.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the presentinvention, including those aspects illustrated in FIGS. 1-5 can beimplemented using any one of many known programming languages suitablefor creating applications that can run on large scale computing systems,including servers connected to a network (such as the Internet). Thedetails of the specific implementation of the present invention willvary depending on the programming language(s) used to embody the aboveprinciples, and are not material to an understanding of the presentinvention. Furthermore it will be apparent to those skilled in the artthat this is not the entire set of software modules that can be used, oran exhaustive list of all operations executed by such modules. It isexpected, in fact, that other features will be added by system operatorsin accordance with customer preferences and/or system performancerequirements. Furthermore, while not explicitly shown or describedherein, the details of the various software routines, executable code,etc., required to effectuate the functionality discussed above in suchmodules are not material to the present invention, and may beimplemented in any number of ways known to those skilled in the art.

The above descriptions are intended as merely illustrative embodimentsof the proposed inventions. It is understood that the protectionafforded the present invention also comprehends and extends toembodiments different from those above, but which fall within the scopeof the present claims.

1. A method of conducting a sampling event for items comprising: (a)providing one or more electronic data collection devices; (b) collectingat least a set of ratings for the set of items from a group ofparticipants using a first routine executing on said one or moreelectronic data collection devices during the item sampling event; (c)calculating item sampling event data including at least item scores andparticipant scores using a second computing routine; (d) providing atleast some of said item sampling event data through a network to one ormore electronic computing systems associated with third parties involvedin the making, distributing and/or selling of the items; (e) receivingpromotional coupons and/or other electronic feedback from such thirdparties at said one or more electronic data collection devices or otherelectronic message accounts associated with said group of participants;wherein said promotional coupons and/or other electronic feedback arecoupled and dynamically adjustable based on a geographical location ofsaid one or more data collection devices and/or a residence address ofsaid group of participants.
 2. The method of claim 1 wherein said one ormore electronic data collection devices include a single phone basedcomputing device which is adapted to present a data capture interfacewhich varies for multiple users.
 3. The method of claim 1 furtherincluding a step: computing a rating and participant correlation scoreto determine at least one or more of the following: a. which pair ofparticipants provided the closest ratings results; b. which pair ofparticipants provided the most disparate ratings results; c. whichidentified couple in the group provided the closest ratings data; d.which identified couple in the group provided the most disparate ratingsdata; e. a deviation from aggregate group scores on a participant byparticipant basis; f. one or more participants who subjectively gave thelowest rating to the item rated highest by the group; g. one or moreparticipants who gave the highest rating to the item rated lowest by thegroup; h. one or more participants who gave the lowest rating to theitem rated lowest by the group; i. one or more participants who gave thehighest rating to the items rated highest by the group; j. a score ofeach item broken down by sex or age groups.
 4. The method of claim 1,further including a step: presenting advertising to said participantselectronically through said one more electronic data collection devicesduring said the sampling event, which advertising is related to saiditems and/or items correlated to said items.
 5. The method of claim 1,further including a step: compiling ratings and other event data for oneor more said participants and presenting the same to websites for whichsaid participants have social networking memberships.
 6. The method ofclaim 1 further including a step: automatically identifying a nearestlocation for each of said participants on said one or more datacollection devices for purchasing one or more of said items.
 7. Themethod of claim 1 wherein said item sampling event data is derived inpart from kit data associated with a predetermined item sampling kitcontaining said set of items and associated identification information.8. The method of claim 1, further including a step: predicting one ormore items of interest to at least some of said participants based on acollaborative filtering and/or a corroborative filtering analysis. 9.The method of claim 1, further including a step: monitoring redemptionsof said participants of said promotional coupons.
 10. The method ofclaim 1, further including a step: determining which one or more of saidparticipants provide(s) ratings best correlating to prior scores givenby other participants in other sampling events.
 11. A method ofmarketing and promoting items comprising the steps: a) providing an itemmarketing computing system which is coupled through a network connectionto a first item manufacturer computing system, a second item distributorcomputing system, and a third item data collection computing system;said item marketing computing system including one or more softwareroutines to perform the following operations: 1) coordinatingcommunication of first item event data to the third item data collectioncomputing system from a group of participants sampling a first item; 2)calculating scores for said first item and/or for said group ofparticipants; 3) communicating said scores and/or said first item eventdata to at least said first manufacture computing system; 4) processfeedback data based on said scores and/or said first item event datafrom said first manufacture computing system and/or said second itemdistributor computing system which is specific to at least one or moresaid group of participants; 5) communicating promotional information tosaid third item data collection computing system relevant to said firstitem, and/or items determined to be related to said first item to saidat least one or more of said group of participants; wherein promotionalinformation is presented dynamically from a manufacturer and/ordistributor of said first item to a participant during said itemsampling event and which promotional information is responsive andrelated to scores provided by said participant and/or other participantsin said sampling event.
 12. The method of claim 11, where said itemsampling event is associated with tasting a food or beverage.
 13. Anitem data sampling collection computing device comprising: a. anelectronic interface for capturing item sampling data from a participantfor a set of items in an item sampling event; b. an item samplingprocessing routine that is adapted to: i. communicate at least some ofsaid item sampling data with a remote computing system; ii. presentfeedback data from said remote computing system, including advertisingand/or promotional coupons for items, which feedback data is derived atleast in part from a recommender system and is customized for one ormore participants in said item sampling event; iii. calculate scores andawards for said one or more participants based on evaluating andcorrelating their respective ratings provided on said set of itemssampled during the item sampling event.
 14. A data collection system forcollecting data from participants in an item sampling event comprising:a. a portable master controller computing device; b. one or moreportable slave computing devices; wherein each of said master controllercomputing device and said one or more slave computing devices having anelectronic interface for capturing item sampling data from a participantfor a set of items in an item sampling event; further wherein saidportable master controller computing device is coupled to and controlsdata collection and data presentation for the item sampling event fromthe portable slave computing devices; c. the portable master controllercomputing device being further adapted with one or more softwareroutines to: i. calculate scores and awards for said participants basedon evaluating and correlating their respective ratings provided on a setof items sampled during the item sampling event. ii. present feedbackdata from a remote computing system, including advertising and/orpromotional coupons for items, which feedback data is derived at leastin part from a recommender system and is customized for one or moreparticipants in said item sampling event.
 15. An integrated samplingevent kit for sampling a set of consumable items comprising: anintegrated package including at least the following: 1) the set ofconsumable items; wherein the set of consumable items are packaged in amanner so as to obscure their origin and/or identity from at least someof a group of participants in a sampling event; 2) a storage mediaincluding item data stored thereon in electronic form, includingidentification data for each item in the set of items; wherein thestorage media includes data and/or computing instructions adapted to beread by a portable computing device.
 16. A social networking websitecomprising: a. one or more social networking web pages and/or data feedsassociated with a member of the social networking site; wherein saidmember can identify a social circle specified by links and/orassociations to other member of the social networking site b. acompilation routine executing at the social networking site and adaptedto receive and process sampling event data for the member; wherein saidsampling event data includes at least member event information relatingto one of: 1) a set of items; 2) ratings associated therewith providedby the member; 3) scores and/or awards achieved by the member; 4)advertising materials presented to the member; c. said compilationroutine being further adapted to automatically and selectively modifyone of at least said one or more web pages and/or data feeds associatedwith said member and/or other members of said member's social circlebased on said member event information.
 17. A recommender computingsystem adapted to provide recommendations on a group of consumable itemscomprising: a) a first routine of the recommender computing system beingadapted to collect at least a set of ratings for a set of consumableitems from a group of participants using one or more electronic datacollection devices during an item sampling event; (b) a second routineof the recommender computing system being adapted to calculatecorrelations based on said set of ratings between at least one of 1)said group of participants and other persons rating said set ofconsumable items or related items; and/or 2) said set of items includingat least item scores and participant scores; c) a third routine of therecommender computing system being adapted to present recommendations onconsumable items to at least some of said group of participants based onsaid correlations.
 18. A method of conducting a contest for samplingitems using a computing system comprising: (a) providing a set of one oritems to be rated during an item sampling event in which the items aresampled by a group of participants; (b) automatically collecting at setof reference ratings for said set of items from a group of one or morereference raters using said computing system; (c) automaticallycollecting at least a set of participant ratings for said set of itemsfrom said group of sampling participants during said item sampling eventusing said computing system; (d) calculating participant scores for saiditem sampling event using said computing system; wherein a winner of thecontest is identified by said participant scores that are based ondetermining a correlation between each sampling participant ratingprovided for an item, and a corresponding reference rating provided bysaid one or more reference raters.
 19. A website including a computingsystem adapted to conduct a sampling event for a set of itemscomprising: a. a first routine executing on the computing system forcollecting at least a set of ratings for the set of items from a groupof participants using said one or more electronic data collectiondevices during the item sampling event; b. a second routine executing onthe computing system for calculating item sampling event data includingat least item scores and participant scores; c. a third routineexecuting on the computing system for providing at least some of saiditem sampling event data through a network to one or more electronicsystems associated with third parties involved in the making,distributing and/or selling of the items; d. a fourth routine forprocessing and sending promotional coupons and/or other electronicfeedback from such third parties to said one or more electronic datacollection devices or electronic accounts for said group ofparticipants; wherein said promotional coupons and/or other electronicfeedback are coupled and dynamically adjustable based on a geographicallocation of said one or more data collection devices and/or a residenceaddress of said group of participants.
 20. A method of conducting acontest for sampling items using a computing system comprising: (a)providing a set of one or items to be rated during an item samplingevent in which the items are sampled by a group of participants; (b)automatically generating a set of predicted ratings for said set ofitems by said group of participants using said computing system prior tosaid sampling event; (c) automatically collecting at least a set ofparticipant ratings for said set of items from said group of samplingparticipants during said item sampling event using said computingsystem; (d) calculating a correlation between said set of participantratings and said set of predicted ratings for said item sampling eventusing said computing system; (e) providing a report to said group ofparticipants which contains feedback relating to said correlation; (f)repeating steps (a) through (e) for a different group of participants;(g) generating a report identifying a ranking based on a respectivecorrelation for different groups of participants.